Grocery shopping tips during Coronavirus quarantine #2

[PayrollNerd]

We live in a hurricane prone state. We bought a generator so that we can run our freezer and refrigerator/freezer and a small window unit AC or 2. It runs on gasoline but we recently converted it to hook up to a natural gas line. Best investment ever.

I’ve been reading about generators but here in my county (SWFL), they drive around listening for generators. If they hear them, especially at night, your street gets pushed further down the list for power repair/recovery. The ones I am researching are electric and/or solar. After the initial blast, its generally sunny, hot and humid. I want to plug in my little chest freezer, a beverage cooler and fan or a dehumidifier/fan. An electric generator can be used inside and it’s quiet.

 

[cody22]

Just a heads up to everyone. I don't want to cause a panic, but while shopping today, large empty sections of the meat department were taped off with plastic. Signs on the plastic were apologies for lack of meat due to supply shortage.

West Texas - Just got back from the packed with people grocery store here.... No real shortages on anything that I could tell at this time. Meat counters were full of everything ...moo

 

[drama_farmer]

I had a very enjoyable trip to the local Kroger Gas Station the other day. Due to the Pandemic, I've really only been physically shopping at the local Kroger, and all of those extra dollars spent contribute to "points" which are used to get discounted gas.

Myself and the two ladies also filling up their vehicles had smiles from ear to ear (from a safe distance, of course) as we shared our adjusted price per gallon of gas. My gas price: $.79 per gallon. Too bad we all don't have massive storage tanks for gas hoarding. LOL

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

We haven't had to put gas in either of our vehicles for at least six weeks. DH is working from home, we are making once-weekly trips for food, carry-out dinner once a week, and an occasional trip to Meijer or Rite Aid.

 

[oviedo]

I’ve been reading about generators but here in my county (SWFL), they drive around listening for generators. If they hear them, especially at night, your street gets pushed further down the list for power repair/recovery. The ones I am researching are electric and/or solar. After the initial blast, its generally sunny, hot and humid. I want to plug in my little chest freezer, a beverage cooler and fan or a dehumidifier/fan. An electric generator can be used inside and it’s quiet.

my neighborhood is near two hospitals within 1/2 mile and we are on their power grid so parts of it are a priority - last time the "haves" (back of neighborhood) had the power and we "have nots" suffered - good thing though is the 'haves" set up power charging stations for us - allowed us to shower, and just sit in their AC - some even set up air mattresses because sleeping is the worst - which reminds me I need to purchase battery powered fans now!!!
JMO

 

[oviedo]

so battery powered fans are limited to 2 on amazon - wonder why?

 

[MimosaMornings]

Ah, good to know. I didn’t think of that. Thanks! I did order 2 tarps even tho I have a new roof.

My daughters furniture is in the garage. We will need to pull it further in, set it up off the cement, then cover it. I know from experience the blowing rain will spray around the best sealed door.

I wonder how long food would last if we covered the freezer when power goes out? temp at 95-100 degrees and 90% humidity.
Plus the mosquitoes. I don’t look forward to summer.

 

[MimosaMornings]

My cousin went to two stores in NC and there was no ground beef, no roasts, only 4 steaks. Limit one beef item per person.
His pickup for tomorrow deleted his beef order. Substituted chicken.

 

[mickey2942]

I wonder how long food would last if we covered the freezer when power goes out? temp at 95-100 degrees and 90% humidity.
Plus the mosquitoes. I don’t look forward to summer.

Don't do it. Nothing is worse than food poisoning.

 

[Suglo]

My cousin went to two stores in NC and there was no ground beef, no roasts, only 4 steaks. Limit one beef item per person.
His pickup for tomorrow deleted his beef order. Substituted chicken.

We are not having any shortages here in the Central Valley of California. We also happen to have Harris Ranch right down the road so don’t rely on out of state supply-chains as far as I know.

Harris Ranch - Wikipedia

 

[Gardener1850]

I wonder how long food would last if we covered the freezer when power goes out? temp at 95-100 degrees and 90% humidity.
Plus the mosquitoes. I don’t look forward to summer.

I have always heard that you can keep food in a freezer for up to 48 hours after the power goes out as long as you don't open it. Keep it tightly closed and resist the urge to check on the freezer food.

Here's guidelines from the FDA that says a freezer will keep cold 48 hours (if it's full) and the fridge will be safe for up to 4 hours: Food and Water Safety During Power Outages and Floods

We have appliance thermometers in our fridge and freezer so we can check the temps once the power comes back on. We have a generator at our house now but we can't run it all the time. If the power goes out we'll try to run it enough to keep the fridge cool and we'll try to use up the perishable fridge food first. My personal rule is to use up anything meat and milk based in the fridge first, followed by the veggies.

 

[oviedo]

I wonder how long food would last if we covered the freezer when power goes out? temp at 95-100 degrees and 90% humidity.
Plus the mosquitoes. I don’t look forward to summer.

Last hurricane my freezer meat began thawing at 3 days

 

[raysgirl1126]

IDK. Maybe so they can focus on sanitizing carts and other frequently touched items in only one entrance instead of all the entrances? Maybe to try to get people to go through the store in only one direction? Does it have arrows on the floor? I haven't seen arrows yet, but someone else posted above that their store was doing that. If they can't staff every entrance to do all the extra cleaning, then they probably had to choose one entrance to keep open. MOO.

The entrances are taped off with “in” and “out” signs. I haven’t seen arrows. There are circles on the floors where you stand in line to promote 6 feet apart. I have yet to see many stand on them. They stand way further back or act like nothing is going on and walk right on you. Moo

 

[Tillicum]

i've been considering a Generac - it's expensive but 3 weeks without power two years ago was torture. We had power at the office though. If I did get a regular generator, I would pay to have it hooked into the electrical panel - no natural gas but I would use gas. We aren't allowed propane tanks so I don't know how Generac whole house systems would be powered. need to investigate this . Thanks for the reminder.

Hubby says if you can't use natural or propane gas that Generac whole house systems can be run on fuel oil or diesel.

 

[katydid23]

Stocking up on meat in the spring and summer in FL is a huge risk due to hurricane season. It's only going to take one good storm to knock out power long enough to lose what's in your freezer. I have a small 5 cubic foot chest freezer. The bottom layer is 1 gallon and 1/2 gallon jugs of water. If the power goes out, I am hoping what I do have, will last more than a day or two.

When my in-laws lived in Florida, they would have big BBQ parties after the hurricanes and the power was out. They'd grill all their meat and have a big block party until it was all eaten lmao

 

[katydid23]

We ended up grilling all our thawed freezer meat with the neighbors last hurricane - come June we won’t be able to due to social distancing - that was a “fun” part of hurricaning for me
JMO
Also I found everything on my list except boneless skinless chicken breasts at my Aldi including bleach - I don’t bother looking for Lysol - I’m using a lot of white vinegar

Haaaaaaa, you must have known my in-laws from Sarasota. lol I just posted about their post hurricane cookout parties. Epic.

 

[ilovewings]

Hey all. How is the rubbing alcohol situation in your area? I live in Los Angeles county, and the stores here have been out of stock for 3 weeks now. Online availability is zilch too. I do have a few ounces left at home, so I'm trying to make that last. Geez...[/QUOTE

i bought a 32oz bottle of alcohol from Amazon
and waited 3 weeks to get it-- i am embarrassed
to say i spent over 20.00 for it-- it is absurd!!!!

 

[Tillicum]

Stock up sale at Omaha Steaks. https://www.omahasteaks.com/shop/Bulk-Proteins

 

[mickey2942]

Went to Walmart just now. If they are running low on things here...I bet that there are issues in larger cities.

 

[PayrollNerd]

If you or a family member are on Medicare, some plans allow you to purchase things from CVS online up to a dollar limit. My plan allows $35/month for medical items. I was able to get a box of medical gloves and 70% alcohol wipes in my March order. In my April order, they were out of medical gloves but I got another thing of alcohol wipes. If anyone didn’t realize this, be sure to look at the plan you're in. It should tell you if you have it and what the monthly limit is. You go online and order it, it comes right to your house via the mail person.